“The title came up as a joke at first, but it fitted the song so perfectly – we just had to use it”: How Massive Attack created the groundbreaking ’90s hit that propelled Bristol’s unique music scene into the global spotlight

Massive Attack.

Shara Nelson was midway through recording vocals at Coach House Studios in Clifton, Bristol when the vocal melody and lyrics for the song that would become Unfinished Sympathy came to her.

It was the summer of 1990 and Nelson was guest vocalist on the debut album Blue Lines by Massive Attack, the Bristol trip-hop collective formed in 1988 and featuring Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja, Grant ‘Daddy G’ Marshall and Andrew ‘Mushroom’ Vowles.